On a cloudy Tuesday in June, Belisha Duan is marking her second afternoon sitting outside the Moda presentation centre in Burnaby. She’s relaxing on a folding chair, surrounded by realtor colleagues and a few students hired to hold spots for real estate agents outside the doors.

Occupied with her cellphone, and speaking to a colleague beside her, she looks as comfortable as she would in her office at Richmond’s Sutton real estate offices.

By now, the view in front of her — the back doors of The Bay at Metrotown shopping centre — is a familiar one.

“I’ve had clients who bought at Sovereign and MetroPlace, and some of the same clients want to buy here,” she says, referring to two other developments in construction within blocks of the Moda presentation centre.

Duan said her clients are comfortable with the array of shopping and services available in dense urban neighbourhoods like Metrotown.

“What’s so attractive about this area is it’s all about the convenience. Everything is close — shopping, the SkyTrain, T & T supermarket and Crystal Mall. In Hong Kong, people are very accustomed to that kind of convenience,” she said, noting that most of the clients from her Richmond office are Asian.

Ralph Archibald, Polygon’s senior vice-president of sales and marketing, says Duan’s clients’ needs are typical. Buyers of suites at Chancellor, Polygon’s nearly-complete development that stands directly beside Moda’s presentation centre, are attracted to the Metrotown area’s shopping, urban amenities and transit access. He says he expects similar tastes and needs among visitors to Moda’s show suite.

“People buy here for two reasons: Metrotown is the draw, that’s No. 1. Number two is the access to transit.”

Moda, a combination of four corner two-bedroom and four one-bedroom-and-den units on each floor, will be built on Beresford Street at Dow Avenue, a short walk from the Bennett Street show suite.

The Beresford Street address already carries some cachet.

Within 10 years, the city of Burnaby will complete the construction and Beresford will be a celebratory street of sorts, a place designated for local festivals and parades.

It will be built with wide pedestrian-friendly sidewalks, dotted with sidewalk cafes and public artwork, and Moda will stand alongside a stretch that will be known as the Beresford Art Walk.

In the previous six years, there had been little to no multi-family residential development in the Metrotown area.

That changed about 16 months ago, Archibald says. “There’s been a pent-up demand.”

Though the area is “very much an urban centre,” Archibald says residents will be able to enjoy a community feel as well.

Moda will stand beside Maywood elementary school.

The site is also close to Bonsor Park and community centre, and a few blocks’ walk to Central Park to the west.

Inside the presentation suite, Archibald points out the floor-to-ceiling windows.

They’ll be a feature in the corner two-bedroom suites at Moda, highlighting the views.

“Looking back over southwest Burnaby, the views are superb,” Archibald says. “You can see the Gulf Islands from the eighth floor all the way up.”

Such large windows promise brightly lit homes, and offer the illusion of a more expansive suite.

The centre’s large master bedroom suite features one walk-in closet, and a second more conventional storage space.

The ensuite bathroom includes a fun little feature: a body-length window that lets the owner see directly into the bedroom from inside the stand-alone shower.

The sleek, light kitchen with KitchenAid, Fagor and Bosch appliances looks out onto a generous living space with plenty of room to circulate between the kitchen prep area, dining room and living room.

The dens in the one-bedroom and den suites are large enough to fit a twin bed and a work area, says Archibald.

With generous interior living space, access to shopping, transit, and a strong community vibe, Moda’s Metrotown area is a magnet for people who prefer an urban lifestyle that’s still affordable, Archibald says.

“Obviously pricing in this area is considerably less than other urban centres such as downtown Vancouver,” he says.

“But specifically, our buyers have told us they purchased here because Moda is priced to offer the very best value in all of Metrotown.”

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